Q1) How many vehicles are there in the United Kingdom?
Q2) Which is the fastest growing category of vehicle?
Q3) What is the most common car in the United Kingdom?
Q4) How many licensed cars have a female registered keeper?
Q5) How often is a car in use or parked?
Q6) Where are household vehicles parked overnight in England?
Q7) Has the average size of a garage kept up with the current car size?
Q9) How old is the average car?
Q10) In the average car's lifetime, how many owners will it have?
Q11) What proportion do company cars comprise of the licensed car stock?
Q12) How many new cars were registered in the UK in 2022?
Q13) What was the favourite new car colour in 2022?
Q14) How many new cars registered in 2022 were sold to businesses, fleets and private buyers?
Q15) How many used cars changed hands in 2022?
Q16) How many cars were manufactured in the UK in 2022?
Q17) How many driving licence holders are there?
Q18) What proportion of young adults (aged 17 - 20) in England hold a full driving licence?
Q19) What proportion of older people in England hold a full driving licence?
Q20) How many people aged 70 or over in Great Britain hold a full driving licence?
Q21) How many jobs require the applicant to be able to drive?
Q22) How many households in England have access to a car or van?
Q23) How many adults in England live in a household with access to a car or van?
Q25) Are the majority of SUVs registered to urban or rural households?
Q26) How important is the car as a mode of transport?
Q27) What proportion of people commute to work by car?
Q28) What is the average annual mileage per car in England?
Q30) How many miles per year does motor vehicle traffic travel on the roads of Great Britain?
Q31) What are the road traffic forecasts for future years?
Q32) What improvements are planned to the Strategic Road Network?
Q33) How many miles of road are there in Great Britain?
Q34) What are the road lengths in England, Scotland and Wales?
Q35) How much of the British road network has no mobile phone coverage?
Q36) What type of roads does traffic travel on?
Q38) What are smart motorways?
Q39) Is the rollout of smart motorways to be paused?
Q40) What type of vehicles use the roads in Great Britain?
Q41) What percentage of HGVs "drive around empty"?
Q42) How busy are the roads in Great Britain?
Q43) Which road has the highest average traffic flow?
Q44) What are average vehicle speeds?
Q45) Which local authorities have the highest traffic levels?
Q46) Which of England's major A roads have the highest seasonal increase in traffic?
Q47) How many foreign registered vehicles use the roads in Great Britain?
Q51) What is the Pothole Action Fund?
Q52) How can I report a pothole to a local authority?
Q53) What percentage of local authority roads are considered to be in a poor structural condition?
Q54) How many bridges managed by local authorities in Great Britain are substandard?
Q56) What is the Blue Badge Scheme?
Q57) How many Blue Badges are on issue in England?
Q58) How many Blue Badges were lost or stolen in England in the year ending 31 March 2022?
Q1) How many vehicles are there in the United Kingdom?
A1) At the end of September 2022, there were 40.8 million licensed vehicles in the UK, which was a 0.7 per cent increase compared to the end of September 2021, and a 3.1 per cent increase compared to the end of September 2020.
Cars make up the majority of licensed vehicles. In the United Kingdom, there were 33.2 million cars (81.3 per cent), 4.63 million LGVs (11.3 per cent), 0.54 million HGVs (1.3 per cent), 1.46 million motorcycles (3.6 per cent), 0.15 million buses & coaches (0.4 per cent) and 0.84 million other vehicles (2 per cent) licensed at the end of September 2022.
The total number of licensed vehicles has increased in all but two years (1991 & 2020) since the end of the Second World War.
Source: Vehicle Licensing Statistics: July – September 2022
Historical details about the number of licensed vehicles can be viewed in table VEH0101.
Q2) Which is the fastest growing category of vehicle?
A2) Vans.
In the last 25 years, van traffic has seen the fastest growth (in percentage terms) of any motor vehicle, increasing 106 per cent to 55.5 billion vehicle miles in 2019.This rapid rise in van traffic now means that van traffic as a proportion of all motor vehicle miles has increased from 10 per cent to 16 per cent over the same period.
The number of vans in Great Britain has also increased substantially over the last 25 years, increasing 93 per cent from 2.1 million licensed vans in 1994 to 4.1 million licensed vans in 2019.
Van traffic grew by 2.0 per cent between 2018 and 2019.
The statistics below also detail van activity in Great Britain.
Source: Final Van Statistics: April 2019 – March 2020
Q3) What is the most common car in the United Kingdom?
A3) At the end of 2021, the most common licensed car was the Ford Fiesta, with 1.49 million cars licensed, followed by the Ford Focus with 1.11 million and the Vauxhall Corsa and Vauxhall Golf both with 1.03 million.
Source: Vehicle Licensing Statistics: 2021
Q4) How many licensed cars have a female registered keeper?
A4) At the end of December 2021, about 35 per cent of registered keepers of licensed cars were female. Over the last 10 years, the number of licensed cars registered to female keepers increased by 16 per cent, compared with an increase of 10 per cent for those registered to male keepers.
Source: Vehicle Licensing Statistics: 2021
Q5) How often is a car in use or parked?
A5) The average car or van in England is driven just 4 per cent of the time, a figure that has barely changed in quarter of a century.
For the rest of the time the car or van is either parked at home (73 per cent) or parked elsewhere (23 per cent), for example at work.
Source: RAC Foundation: Standing Still
Q6) Where are household vehicles parked overnight in England?
A6) In England in 2020, 12 per cent of household vehicles were parked in a garage overnight; 61 per cent were parked on private property (but not garaged); 24 per cent were parked on the street; and 3 per cent were parked in other places.
Since 2002, the proportion of respondents parking vehicles in garages has decreased from 22 per cent to 12 per cent and the proportion parking elsewhere on private property has increased by about the same amount (from 50 per cent to 61 per cent).
NOTE: These statistics were not updated in National Travel Survey: England 2021 and will next be updated in the 2022 edition which will be published in 2023.
Source: National Travel Survey: England 2020 and Table NTS0908
Q7) Has the average size of a garage kept up with the current car size?
A7) No. The cars on Britain’s roads have, on average, got larger over time, both in width and in length. In 1965 the top five models sold in the UK had an average width of 1.5m and average length of 3.9m, compared to an average width of 1.8m and length of 4.3m for the top five sellers of 2020. Despite this, the typical garage door width for a domestic property is around 2.1m, leaving just 0.15m on either side of the average car in 2020.
While there is no extensive data on the changes in domestic garage dimensions over time, through evidence provided by various councils it can be seen that garage size poses a problem for anyone wanting to use their garage to park their car, and not merely in older residential developments. It comes as no surprise, then, that the ‘garage’ in many homes ends up being converted into a room, or simply serves as a storage shed. This view is borne out by an RAC study from 2014 which revealed that 62 per cent of households use their garage for purposes other than parking a car. Of the 38 per cent choosing to use their garage for its intended purpose, one in five had a hard time getting their car in, owing to limited dimensions.
Source: RAC Foundation: Standing Still
Q8) What proportion of Britain’s households have, or have the potential to have, enough off street parking to accommodate at least one car or van?
A8) 18 million (65 per cent) of Britain’s 27.6 million households have – or could have – enough off-street parking to accommodate at least one car or van?
Breaking the numbers down:
- Wales – 75 per cent of households have – or could have – off-street parking and electric vehicle charging
- England (excluding London) 68 per cent
- Scotland – 63 per cent
- London – 44 per cent
- Great Britain – 65 per cent
Details of the proportion of homes with – or with the potential to have – off-street parking by both local authority area and Westminster parliamentary constituency can be viewed in the report.
Source: RAC Foundation: Standing Still
Q9) How old is the average car?
A9) The average age of a licensed car in the United Kingdom was 8.8 years at the end of 2021.
Source: Vehicle Licensing Statistics: 2021
Q10) In the average car's lifetime, how many owners will it have?
A10) In the average car’s lifetime, it will have 4 owners.
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – Motorparc Census
Q11) What proportion do company cars comprise of the licensed car stock?
A11) The commercial fleet and company car market is a primary driver of new registrations for cars. During 2021, 55.3 per cent of cars registered for the first time had a company keeper. However, the proportion of licensed cars at the end of 2021 kept by companies was much lower at only 8.1 per cent. This is due to company-kept cars typically moving to become privately-kept after the car is around three years old.
The proportion of licensed cars with company keepers in Great Britain has remained within the range 8 per cent to 10 per cent since 1994.
Source: Vehicle Licensing Statistics: 2021
Q12) How many new cars were registered in the UK in 2022?
A12) 1,614,063 new cars entered the UK market in 2022. This was a 2 per cent decrease over the 1,647,181 new cars registered in 2021 and around 700,000 units below pre-Covid levels of 2019. The figures underline the ongoing impact of pandemic-related global parts shortages.
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – New Car Registrations
Q13) What was the favourite new car colour in 2022?
A13) For the fifth year in a row, grey retained its position as the UK’s favourite new car colour in 2022. 415,199 grey cars were sold over the course of 2022, accounting for a quarter (25.7 per cent) of the market. Black was the second most popular colour (20.1 per cent) while white was in third place (16.7 per cent).
More than six in 10 (62.5 per cent) new cars hitting British roads in 2022 were painted in grey, black or white. Silver, however, which held first or second place in car buyers’ affections for 12 straight years from 2000 to 2011, posted just 98,483 units and a 6.1 per cent market share in 2022 – its lowest level in more than two decades. Red, although retaining its fifth-place ranking, also recorded a decline to reach its lowest market share since 2008, at 136,793 units accounting for 8.5 per cent of all cars registered.
Green enjoyed a resurgence in popularity to a level not seen for 16 years, up by 74.2 per cent on 2021 with the largest volume growth of all colours. Some 31,220 new green cars were registered in total – perhaps fittingly a quarter of which (24.1 per cent) could be plugged-in. Meanwhile, maroon, pink and cream were bottom of the charts, taking just 0.02 per cent of all registrations combined.
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
Q14) How many new cars registered in 2022 were sold to businesses, fleets and private buyers?
A14) In 2021:-
- 44,715 cars were sold to businesses (companies that operate up to 24 vehicles) – an increase of 37 per cent from 32,647 in 2021;
- 750,839 cars were sold to fleets (companies that operate fleets of 25 or more vehicles) – a fall of 7.5 per cent from 812,030 in 2021; and
- 818,509 cars were sold to private buyers – an increase of 2.0 per cent from 802,504 in 2021.
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – New Car Registrations
Q15) How many used cars changed hands in 2022?
A15) The UK’s used car market declined by 8.5 per cent in 2022. 6,890,777 used car transactions took place, 640,179 less than in 2021 (7,530,956 transactions). The used car market remains 13.2 per cent off 2019’s pre-pandemic total, as the squeeze on new car supply – primarily due to the global shortage of semiconductors – restricted stock entering the second-hand market.
Used battery electric vehicle transactions bucked the overall trend, recording their best-ever annual performance with a record 71,071 units finding new owners in 2022, a rise of 37.5 per cent, and boosting their overall market share to 1.0 per cent from 0.7 per cent in 2021. Robust demand for other alternatively fuelled vehicles continued, too, with sales of hybrid electric vehicles rising 8.6 per cent and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle transactions up 3.6 per cent.
Combined, however, electrified vehicles represented just 4.1 per cent of the market (up from 3.3 per cent in 2021) and while transactions of used diesel and petrol cars fell by 11.8 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively, they remained the dominant powertrains with a combined 6,594,880 units changing hands.
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – Used Car Sales Data
Q16) How many cars were manufactured in the UK in 2022?
A16) UK car production declined 9.8 per cent in 2022 to 775,014 units, the worst total since 1956. The annual total was 84,561 units down on 2021 and 40.5 per cent less than the 1,303,135 cars made in 2019 pre-pandemic, equivalent to a loss of more than half a million cars.
The main reasons for the depressed output were the global shortage of semiconductors, which limited the ability to build cars in line with demand; significant structural changes, reflecting a loss of production at two volume manufacturing sites; and the impact of supply chain pauses in China due to Covid lockdowns.
Despite these challenges, UK factories turned out a record 234,066 battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid (HEV) electric vehicles, with combined volumes up 4.5 per cent year-on-year to represent almost a third (30.2 per cent) of all car production. Total BEV production rose 4.8 per cent, with hybrid volumes up 4.3 per cent.
606,838 cars were shipped worldwide – 78.3 per cent of total production.
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – UK Automotive Manufacturing
Q17) How many driving licence holders are there?
A17) In February 2023, the total number of driving licences registered with DVLA was 51,098,087. Of these, 41,570,822 were full driving entitlement licences and 9,527,265 were provisional entitlement licences. These figures are for the whole of Great Britain.
It should be stressed that neither DVLA or DfT would recommend that users rely on this data being a true reflection of the number of active driving licence holders in Great Britain as the DVLA data includes details of people who have died, emigrated etc and who have not been removed from the DVLA database.
Source: Driving Licence Data
More robust estimates of active driving licence holders are available from the National Travel Survey. Latest estimates show that in 2021, about 77 per cent of English residents aged 17 and over (an estimated 34.8 million people) held a driving licence. In 1992, the proportion of adults with a licence in England was estimated at 67 per cent (an estimated 25.4 million people).
Around 80 per cent of men and 74 per cent of women in this group hold a licence. Whilst, over the long term, licence holding among both men and women has increased, the rate of increase has been much greater for women. For men, this percentage is unchanged since 2002, but for women, driving licence holding has increased by 12 percentage points in the same period.
Source: National Travel Survey: England 2021 and Table NTS0201
Q18) What proportion of young adults (aged 17 - 20) in England hold a full driving licence?
A18) In 2021, 21 per cent of men and women aged 17 – 20 held a full licence. This is the lowest percentage figure since records began in 1975.
More young women (23 per cent) held a full driving licence than young men (19 per cent) in 2021.
Source: National Travel Survey: England 2021 and Table NTS0201
Q19) What proportion of older people in England hold a full driving licence?
A19) There has been a large increase in the number of older people in England holding a full driving licence. Between 1995/1997 and 2021 the proportion of people aged 70+ holding a licence increased from 39 per cent to 75 per cent. This is due to aging of existing licence holders rather than large numbers of newly qualified drivers in older age groups.
The increase among older women is particularly notable: 82 per cent of women aged 60-69 and 66 per cent aged 70+ held a licence in 2021 compared with 46 per cent and 22 per cent in 1995/97 respectively.
Source: National Travel Survey: England 2021 and Table NTS0201
Q20) How many people aged 70 or over in Great Britain hold a full driving licence?
A20) According to DVLA data there are also now just over five million people aged 70 or more in Great Britain who hold a full licence. While not all of these licence holders will be active drivers, the statistics illustrate the growing number of older people who still use a car.
Source: RAC Foundation analysis of DVLA data.
Q21) How many jobs require the applicant to be able to drive?
A21) Almost one in five (19 per cent) job adverts say that applicants must be able to drive.
Analysis by the RAC Foundation of a snapshot of the government’s Find a Job database found that of the 182,062 vacancies on offer on the 14 September 2018, 34,067 (19 per cent) stated that having a car or licence was a requirement.
The professions that required applicants to have the ability to drive were as diverse as: carer, professional driver, cleaner, chef, sales consultant, security guard, business development manager, gymnastics coach and electrician.
The RAC Foundation also analysed the vacancies listed on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s apprenticeship database. This showed that one in twelve (8 per cent) apprenticeships needed the applicant to have a car or licence.
The findings are in line to a similar study carried out by the Foundation back in 2015.
Q22) How many households in England have access to a car or van?
A22) About 78 per cent.
There have been significant long-term increases in the proportion of households with access to a car or van. The proportion of households without a car has fallen from 48 per cent in 1971 (based on the Census) to 22 per cent in 2021, while the proportion of households with access to two or more cars or vans increased over this period from 8 per cent to 33 per cent.
Since 2000, there have been more households with two or more cars or vans than households with no car or van.
Source: National Travel Survey: England 2021 and Table NTS0205
Q23) How many adults in England live in a household with access to a car or van?
A23) In 2021, 83 per cent of adults in England lived in a household with a car or van. This differed very slightly between men and women (85 per cent and 82 per cent respectively).
Source: National Travel Survey: England 2021 and Table NTS0206
Q24) Which local authorities in England and Wales have the highest and lowest number of cars and vans per head of population?
A24) Research carried out by the RAC Foundation (based on 2011 Census data) shows that of the 348 English and Welsh local authorities, the East Dorset District Council area has the highest number of cars and vans per head of population.
For every thousand people – men, women and children – living in East Dorset, there are 694 cars. This compares with an average of 487 cars and vans per thousand people as a whole. By contrast, Hackney has the fewest at 170 cars and vans per thousand people.
Q25) Are the majority of SUVs registered to urban or rural households?
A25) Urban households.
Three quarters of SUVs sold in the UK are registered to urban households according to analysis of data from 2019 and 2020 by the think tank New Weather Institute and climate charity Possible.
According to the report, “rather than large SUVs being most popular in remote farming regions, six of the top ten areas for new sales are urban or suburban districts. Although these vehicles have 4-wheel-drive and off-road capability, the top three districts for large SUVs are inner London boroughs. These include Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster. On average, the report found that one in three new private cars bought in these areas is a large SUV.
Q26) How important is the car as a mode of transport?
A26) The RAC Foundation’s report entitled “The Car in British Society” showed that the dominance of the car as a mode of transport in the early years of the 21st Century is absolute and that policy makers must recognise this fact as they introduce measures to cut traffic and hence ease congestion and fight climate change.
The car continues to dominate most people’s daily travel. In 2021, 59 per cent of trips were made by car, either as a driver or passenger. The car is also the most common mode for distance travelled, accounting for 80 per cent of all miles travelled in 2021.
Source : National Travel Survey: England 2021
Car use (both as driver and passenger) accounts for only 8 per cent of the trips under half a mile in length but rises to 76 per cent of all trips in the 2 – 3 mile band and 80 per cent of trips longer than five miles in length; above one mile, more than half of all trips are by car.
Source: The Car in British Society
The Commission for Integrated Transport noted in its “Medium-length Trip Patterns” report that 42 per cent of car mileage was driven on medium-length car trips (defined as 5 – 25 miles).
Q27) What proportion of people commute to work by car?
A27) Across Great Britain, those who usually travel to work by car in 2021 accounted for 68 per cent of commuting journeys by all modes. This varied by region, with only 27 per cent of those living in London reporting using a car for their commute.
The percentage of workers usually travelling to work by car by region of workplace in 2020 can be seen below.
| GB Country | English Region | Proportion |
| England | 67% | |
| North East | 76% | |
| North West | 73% | |
| Yorkshire & Humber | 75% | |
| East Midlands | 80% | |
| West Midlands | 79% | |
| East of England | 76% | |
| London | 27% | |
| South East | 75% | |
| South West | 75% | |
| Scotland | 68% | |
| Wales | 81% |
Source: Transport Statistics: Great Britain 2022 Domestic Travel
The issue was also considered in a RAC Foundation report The Car and the Commute.
Q28) What is the average annual mileage per car in England?
A28) The estimated average annual mileage per car in England has decreased as the number of cars per household has risen, falling from around 9,200 miles in 2002 to 5,300 miles in 2021.
There are different trends depending on whether the car is company or privately owned. Company cars have an annual mileage about double that of private cars – 10,200 compared to 5,200 in 2021.
The estimated average annual mileage was higher for diesel cars than petrol cars, at 6,500 miles and 4,600 miles respectively in 2021.
Source: National Travel Survey: England 2021 and Table NTS0901
Q29) What is the average annual mileage of new cars in each of the first 3 years after they are registered?
A29) An analysis carried out by the RAC Foundation shows that the newest cars in Great Britain do an average of 10,377 miles in each of the first three years after they are registered. This is the equivalent of 28 miles per day. (Private cars are required to start having annual MOTs once they are three years old. At that point the mileage is recorded by the test venue and it is this information that has been used in the research).
However, there are big differences between cars of varying make, model and fuel type. The results show that new diesel cars cover an average of 12,496 miles in each of their first three years. This is 67% more than new petrol cars which only do an average of 7,490 miles per year. Pure battery electric cars are driven an average of 9,435 miles per year.
Full details of the average annual mileage of new cars in each of their first 3 years by make, model and fuel type can be viewed here.
Source: RAC Foundation
Q30) How many miles per year does motor vehicle traffic travel on the roads of Great Britain?
A30) The traffic estimates during 2021 have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and include periods following the government’s announcements of measures to limit the impact and transmission of the pandemic. So comparing traffic estimates for 2021 (and 2020) with previous calendar years can be misleading. Vehicle miles travelled in Great Britain saw year-on-year growth in each year between 2011 and 2019 and following a sharp decline in 2020, traffic levels for 2021 have increased on the previous year. However, they still remain lower than the 2011 levels. Therefore, to say traffic has fallen over the last decade would misconstrue as the overall decrease is entirely due to the decline in traffic levels observed in the 2020-2021 estimates.
In 2021, 297.6 billion vehicle miles (bvm) were driven on Great Britain’s roads, an increase of 11.9 per cent compared to 2020. Traffic in 2021 was 12.1 per cent lower compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
Car traffic increased by 12.2 per cent from 2020 levels to 221.4 bvm. 2021 car traffic estimates remain lower than those for before the pandemic (-15.8 per cent when compared to 2019); van traffic increased by 11.9 per cent from 2020 to 54.4 bvm and van traffic estimates for 2021 are higher than levels before the pandemic (+1.7 per cent when compared to 2019); and lorry traffic increased by 7.9 per cent from 2020 to 17.5 bvm. 2021 lorry traffic estimates are also higher than levels before the pandemic (+1.6% when compared to 2019).
Motorways traffic increased by 14.4 per cent compared to 2020, carrying 60.3 bvm of traffic. Motorway traffic estimates for 2021 remain lower than those for before the pandemic (-14.5 per cent); the Strategic Road Network traffic increased by 14.6 per cent compared to 2020, carrying 83.2 bvm of traffic. 2021 Strategic Road Network traffic estimates remain lower than those for before the pandemic (-14.1 per cent when compared to 2019); ‘A’ roads saw a 12.4 per cent increase in traffic from 2020. ‘A’ roads traffic estimates for 2021 are lower than those for before the pandemic (-13.6 per cent when compared to 2019); and minor road traffic increased by 10.0 per cent since 2020. 2021 minor roads traffic estimates remain lower than those for before the pandemic (-8.8 per cent when compared to 2019).
Source: Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2021
The latest provisional estimates show motor vehicles travelled 321.9 billion vehicle miles in Great Britain for the year ending September 2022. All motor vehicle traffic increased compared to the year ending September 2021 (+12.6 per cent) but was 4.9 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels (the year ending December 2019).
Compared to the year ending September 2021, in the year ending September 2022:
- car traffic increased by 13.5 per cent to 239.8 billion vehicle miles
- van and lorry traffic increased by 12.2 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively
- motorway traffic increased by 16.9 per cent
- ’A’ road traffic increased by 12.4 per cent
- minor road traffic increased by 10.5 per cent
Data since March 2020 are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK. This should be considered when comparing them with previous time periods.
Source: Provisional Road Traffic Estimates Great Britain: October 2021 – September 2022
Q31) What are the road traffic forecasts for future years?
A31) The National Road Traffic Projections 2022 study presents the Department for Transport’s latest projections of road traffic, congestion and emissions in England and Wales up to the year 2060, using the DfT’s National Transport Model (NTM). Within these forecasts, seven different plausible scenarios have been constructed that reflect the uncertainty in the key drivers of road traffic demand.
The factors with the biggest influence on future traffic volume are:-
- population
- economic growth
- employment levels
- number and type of households
- fuel prices
- fuel efficiency.
Traffic levels in England and Wales are projected to grow in all the scenarios, but with large variation around the size and trend of that growth. From 2025, traffic is projected to grow between 8 per cent and 54 per cent by 2060. Consequently, delay is projected to increase by between 6 per cent and 85 per cent from 2025 to 2060. (This is measured as average delay per vehicle per mile in seconds).
The lowest levels of traffic are seen in the Behavioural Change Scenario which assumes increased flexible working, online shopping and reduced rates of driving licence holding among younger cohorts. In this scenario, traffic is projected to grow by 8 per cent between 2025 and 2060. The highest growth is seen in the Technology Scenario which assumes high and fast uptake of connected and autonomous vehicles (AVs) and high and fast uptake of electric vehicles which are assumed to maintain their current cost advantage over petrol and diesel vehicles. This is just one potential future with AVs which assumes increased trip making for the elderly and increased driving licence holding for all. In this scenario, traffic is projected to grow by 54 per cent between 2025 and 2060.
Source: National Road Traffic Projections 2022
Q32) What improvements are planned to the Strategic Road Network?
A32) The second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) was published by the government in March 2020. It sets a long-term strategic vision for the network and specifies the performance standards Highways England must meet; lists planned enhancement schemes that are expected to be built; and states the funding that will be made available during the second Road Period (RP2), covering the financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25.
In total, RIS2 commits the Government to spend £27.4 billion during RP2. Some of this will be used to build new road capacity, but much more will be used to improve the quality and reduce the negative impacts of the existing Strategic Roads Network.
The Strategy document can be viewed here.
The Government has also announced plans to double the Strategic Road Network to around 8,000 miles to create a new Major Road Network (MRN) which will include many routes which are under the control of councils. Details can be viewed here.
Q33) How many miles of road are there in Great Britain?
A33) In 2021, there were 247,800 miles of road in Great Britain. This was 2,800 more miles than a decade earlier in 2011 (a 1.1 per cent increase), and 4,900 more miles than in 2001 (a 2.0 per cent increase).
There were 31,900 miles of major road in Great Britain in 2021, consisting of 2,300 miles of motorway and 29,500 miles of ‘A’ roads. These major roads make up about 13 per cent of the total road length.
The majority of road lengths in Great Britain is made up of minor roads, with these roads accounting for 216,000 miles in 2020, consisting of:18,900 miles of ‘B’ road and 197,100 miles of ‘C’ and ‘U’ roads. These minor roads make up about 87 per cent of the total road length.
Source: Road Lengths in Great Britain: 2021
Q34) What are the road lengths in England, Scotland and Wales?
A34) Of the 247,800 miles of road in Great Britain in 2021, 190,000 miles (77 per cent) of road were in England, 36,800 miles (15 per cent) were in Scotland, and 21,000 miles (8 per cent) were in Wales.
The road networks for Scotland and Wales account for a higher proportion of all road length in Great Britain compared to the population of these countries, which are more sparsely populated.
Within England, the regions with the largest amount of road length were the South West, which had 31,420 miles, and the South East, with 30,248 miles.
Source: Road Lengths in Great Britain: 2021 and Table RDL0101
Q35) How much of the British road network has no mobile phone coverage?
A35) There are still more than five and a half thousand miles of road in Britain where drivers would find it impossible to call for help in case of a crash or breakdown because there is no mobile phone voice coverage from any network provider.
The stretches of road – measuring 5,540 in total – represent 2 per cent of the length of Britain’s overall road network – which is 245,705 miles long.
According to the RAC Foundation analysis, a further 44,368 miles of road (18 per cent) have only partial voice coverage meaning there are many areas where some but not all phones will receive a signal depending on the service provider they rely on.
Source: Mobile phone coverage across the GB road network
Q36) What type of roads does traffic travel on?
A36) In 2021, 60.3 billion vehicle miles (bvm) were carried on motorways; 86.8 bvm on rural “A” roads; 43.0 bvm on urban “A” roads; 46.0 bvm on rural minor roads; and 61.6 bvm on urban minor roads.
Motorway traffic increased by 14.4 per cent between 2020 and 2021. 20 per cent of all vehicle miles were driven on motorways.
Traffic volumes are not proportionate to road lengths. In 2021, 64 per cent of the motor vehicle miles travelled were on motorways and ‘A’ roads, despite comprising only 13 per cent of the road network by length. On an average day in 2021, 52 times more vehicles travelled along a typical stretch of motorway than a typical stretch of a minor road (‘B’ roads, ‘C’ roads, and unclassifed roads.)
Source: Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2021 and TRA0102
A37) A journey analysis undertaken in November 2019 showed that only a small proportion (14 per cent) of car and taxi trips on the M25 – one of the longest and busiest ring roads in the world – bypass London completely and are made by people travelling from one part of the country to another.
The vast majority (74 per cent) of car and taxi trips that include the M25 actually start or end in London.
The remaining proportion (12 per cent) of car and van trips are so-called intra-London movements, meaning the journeys both start and end in the capital but use the 117-mile-long orbital motorway as part of the route.
The analysis also revealed that of the strategic routes “feeding” the M25, the M1 was the most significant, followed by the M4, M3, M40 and A2.
Full details can be viewed here.
Q38) What are smart motorways?
A38) A smart motorway is a section of a motorway that uses technology to monitor and manage the flow of traffic permanently or at particularly busy times of the day. The technology is controlled from the National Highway’s regional control centres which can activate and change signs and variable speed limits. A map showing where smart motorways are operating can be viewed here.
There are currently three different types of smart motorway:- controlled motorways; dynamic hard shoulder running schemes and all lane running schemes.
Controlled motorways have three or more lanes with variable speed limits but retain a hard shoulder. Variable speed limits are displayed on overhead gantry signs – if no speed limit is displayed the national speed limit is in place. Speed cameras are used to enforce these limits.
Dynamic hard shoulder running involves opening the hard shoulder as a running lane to traffic at busy periods to ease congestion. Overhead signs on gantries indicate whether or not the hard shoulder is open to traffic. The hard shoulder must not be used if the signs over it are blank or display a red X, except in the case of an emergency.
All lane running schemes permanently remove the hard shoulder and convert it into a running lane. These motorways also have overhead gantry signs that display the mandatory speed limit which varies depending on the traffic conditions – if no speed limit is displayed the national speed limit is in place. Speed cameras are used to enforce these limits. Should drivers break down or be involved in an accident there are emergency refuge areas at the side of the carriageway for them to use.
The RAC’s advice on smart motorways, and how to use them, can be viewed here.
Q39) Is the rollout of smart motorways to be paused?
A39) Yes. The government announced in January 2022 that in line with the Transport Committee’s most recent recommendations, the rollout of new all lane running (ALR) smart motorways will be paused until a full 5 years’ worth of safety data becomes available for schemes introduced before 2020. After this point, the government will assess the data and make an informed decision on next steps.
While further data is being collected, National Highways will continue work to complete schemes that are currently in construction, which will all open with technology in place to detect stopped vehicles. These schemes are all more than 50 per cent completed and halting progress on them now would cause significant disruption for drivers.
Design work will also continue on those schemes already being planned, so they are ready to be constructed depending on the outcome of the pause. No preparatory construction work will take place.
While the rollout of new ALR motorways is paused, the government will ensure current smart motorways without a permanent hard shoulder are equipped with best-in-class technology and resources to make them as safe as possible. This will include investing £390 million to install more than 150 additional emergency areas so drivers have more places to stop if they get into difficulty. This will represent around a 50 per cent increase in places to stop by 2025.
Also, in line with the committee’s recommendations, National Highways will pause the conversion of dynamic hard shoulder motorways – where the hard shoulder is open at busy times – into all lane running motorways while it investigates alternative ways of operating them to make things simpler for drivers. National Highways will also install technology to detect stopped vehicles on these sections.
Q40) What type of vehicles use the roads in Great Britain?
A40) Car and taxi traffic accounted for 74 per cent of all motor vehicle traffic in Great Britain in 2021, with light van and Heavy Goods Vehicle traffic accounting for 18 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. Motorcycles/scooters and buses/coaches both accounted for 1 per cent.
All motor vehicle types saw an increase in traffic levels during 2021 compared to 2020. However, car, motorcycle and bus traffic remained below the pre-pandemic 2019 levels, whereas van and lorry traffic were slightly above.
Car and taxi traffic in Great Britain in 2021 increased by 12.2 per cent compared to 2020; van traffic increased by 11.9 per cent; lorry traffic increased by 7.9 per cent; motorcycle and scooter (excluding e-scooter) traffic increased by 17.0 per cent; and bus and coach traffic by 10.9 per cent.
Source: Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2021 and TRA0101
Q41) What percentage of HGVs "drive around empty"?
A41) About 28 – 30 per cent of HGVs are “driving around empty” at any one time.
Source: Institution of Mechanical Engineers: UK Freight – In for the Long Haul
Q42) How busy are the roads in Great Britain?
A42) Motor vehicle flow statistics give an indication of how busy roads in Great Britain are rather than volume of miles travelled on the road network. They are presented as the average number of vehicles per day per mile of road.
Motorways continued to have the highest average traffic flow in 2021 with 71.1 thousand vehicles for each mile of motorway per day. The average traffic flow on urban “A” roads was 16.2 thousand vehicles for each mile of urban “A” road per day and traffic flows on rural “A” roads were 10.7 thousand vehicles for each mile of rural “A” road per day.
The average traffic flow on urban minor roads was 1.9 thousand vehicles for each mile of urban minor roads per day and traffic flows on rural minor roads were 1.0 thousand vehicles for each mile of rural minor road per day.
Source: Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2021 and TRA0301
Q43) Which road has the highest average traffic flow?
A43) The road link with the highest average daily traffic flows in 2021 was a section of the M60 between junctions 16 and 17. Although the M60 is often one of the busiest links, this is the first time it has been the busiest.
Source: Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2021
Q44) What are average vehicle speeds?
A44) In 2021 the average free flow speed of cars was 69 mph on motorways and 51 mph on national speed limit single carriageways. Vans were observed to have very similar average free flow speeds to cars on both of these road types, having values of 70 mph and 51 mph respectively.
Both cars and vans had an average free flow speed of 31 mph on roads with a speed limit of 30 mph. For all vehicle types on 20 mph roads, the average free flow speed was above the speed limit in 2021, with the highest being motorcycles at 29 mph.
Source: Vehicle Speed Compliance Statistics, Great Britain: 2021
Q45) Which local authorities have the highest traffic levels?
A45) The local authority with the highest traffic level in 2021 is Essex with 8.513 billion vehicle miles. Essex is followed by Hampshire (8.497 billion vehicle miles) and Kent (8.385 billion vehicle miles).
Of the five local authorities with the highest levels of traffic, three are in the South East region (Hampshire, Kent, Surrey) and two were in the East of England region (Essex, Hertfordshire). These are all authorities with relatively large road networks, and they all contain some of the major motorways of Great Britain.
Source: Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2021 and TRA8901
Q46) Which of England's major A roads have the highest seasonal increase in traffic?
A46) The A458 heading towards Snowdonia sees the biggest seasonal increase in traffic on England’s major A roads. During the summer it carries almost a quarter (23.1 per cent) more vehicles than during the rest of the year.
After the A458, comes the A30 in the West Country (19.2 per cent increase) and the A2070 in Kent heading towards the coast and Camber Sands (16.1 per cent). The road with the fourth biggest increase is the A494 just north of Chester which runs into North Wales (15 per cent) and fifth is the A31 through the New Forest (13.1 per cent).
Full details can be viewed here.
Q47) How many foreign registered vehicles use the roads in Great Britain?
A47) In 2019, 0.3 per cent of all traffic on British roads was estimated to be accounted for by foreign registered vehicles. By vehicle type, lorry traffic had the highest proportion of foreign registered vehicles at 3.9 per cent, this was a decrease of 0.6 percentage points compared to 2017. Foreign registered lorries cabotage accounted for just over 1 per cent of road freight activity within the UK.
The South East region had the highest proportion of foreign registered vehicles of any region within Great Britain in 2019. This likely reflects that the South East is the region of arrival and departure for many motor vehicles coming from Europe through ports and the channel tunnel.
(NB These statistics are the latest to be published by the Department for Transport.)
Source: Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2019
A48) National Highways is the government company which plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains England’s motorways and major A roads, known as the strategic road network.
A map of the National Highways network can be found here.
In Scotland a similar responsibility falls on Transport Scotland, and in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government.
Other roads are managed by local authorities.
Q49) What is the total amount of compensation paid by local authorities for damage to persons or vehicles as a result of poor road conditions?
A49) The total amount paid out in compensation by local authorities in England and Wales in 2021/22 for damage to persons or vehicles as a result of poor road condition was £8.9 million. The associated staff costs spent processing these claims totalled £11.0 million.
The overall total cost for addressing these compensation claims was therefore £19.9 million – an increase of about 33 per cent over the £15.0 million reported in the previous year. The total cost of compensation claims in 2021/22 is the equivalent of £96.70 paid per mile of road.
Source: The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey 2022
Q50) How many potholes were filled in over the last year and what was the cost of filling these potholes in?
A50) In 2021/22, the total number of potholes filled in was 1.7 million – the equivalent of one pothole being repaired every 19 seconds in England (including London) and Wales. This is the same number of potholes filled in as in 2020/21.
The total cost of filling in these potholes was estimated at £107.4 million, up from the £93.6 million reported in the previous year.
Source: The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey 2022
Q51) What is the Pothole Action Fund?
A51) The Pothole Action Fund, designed to provide funding for local authorities to fix the potholes on their roads, has run since 2015. The funding is allocated by formula and shared by local highway authorities in England, outside London and the Isles of Scilly. (London receives a separate funding settlement through TfL).
An additional £200 million for the Potholes Fund in 2023-24 was announced in Spring Budget 2023. Full details can be viewed here.
Q52) How can I report a pothole to a local authority?
A52) If you want to report a pothole you can go straight to the authority responsible for the road (most now have an electronic or web-based system available to the public to report potholes and highway faults).
Alternatively, you can report potholes through the following sites:- www.fillthathole.org.uk or www.fixmystreet.com
Q53) What percentage of local authority roads are considered to be in a poor structural condition?
A53) 18 per cent of roads in England (excluding London), 24 per cent of roads in London and 11 per cent of roads in Wales are reported as being in poor structural condition.
Local authorities’ estimate the one-time “catch-up” cost – over and above what local authorities indicate they already receive – to bring their road networks up to scratch has increased by 23 per cent in 2021/22 to £12.64 billion from the £10.24 reported in the previous year. The one-time catch-up cost is an average of £99.1 million per authority in England (excluding London); £25.1 million in London and £29.1 million in Wales.
Even if adequate funding and resources were in place to get roads back into a reasonable condition, it is estimated that to clear the carriageway maintenance backlog will take 9 years in England (excluding London), 8 years in London and 8 years in Wales.
Source: The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey 2022
Q54) How many bridges managed by local authorities in Great Britain are substandard?
A54) Analysis of the data collected from 196 of the 206 local highway authorities in England, Scotland and Wales who responded to FOI requests from the RAC Foundation about the condition of the bridges they managed has identified 3,211 bridges – defined as structures over 1.5 m in span – as being substandard at the end of 2021. (Substandard means unable to carry the heaviest vehicles now seen on our roads, including lorries of up to 44 tonnes). These bridges make up 4.5 per cent of the total of 70,944 bridges the 196 councils manage between them.
The number of substandard bridges is up 3.4 per cent on the 3,105 figure twelve months previously, and up 5 per cent on the 3,055 figure a year before that. However, it is below the 3,194 total for 2018 and the 3,441 figure for 2017.
Some of the bridges will be substandard because they were built to earlier design standards, whilst others will have deteriorated through age and use. Many of these bridges have weight restrictions. Others will be under programmes of increased monitoring or even managed decline.
Councils also reported that, at the time they responded at the end of 2021, 17 bridges including relatively short structures with a span of at least 1.5 metres had fully collapsed in the previous twelve months. Of these 17 full collapses, 12 were in Dorset and 5 were in Denbighshire. [See clarification at the end of this article.] A further 37 had partially collapsed.
Between them, councils say they would ideally want to bring 2,374 (74 per cent) of the 3,105 substandard bridges back up to full carrying capacity. However, budget limitations mean they anticipate that only 379 of these will have the necessary work carried out on them within the next five years.
The estimated cost to bring all the substandard bridges back up to perfect condition is £1.16 billion (up slightly on the £992 million figure of a year earlier).The study reveals that the one-time cost to clear the full maintenance backlog on all 70,944 bridges would be £5.44 billion.
[CLARIFICATION FROM DORSET COUNCIL. Dorset council has been in touch to say that it incorrectly answered part of the FOI request we submitted to it. Instead of having 12 bridges collapse they in fact had no bridges collapse. Please read the report below with that in mind.]
Source: RAC Foundation
Q55) How often are railway bridges struck by traffic and which are the most struck railway bridges in Britain?
A55) In 2021/22, 1,833 bridges were hit by motor vehicles.
The Stonea Road bridge on the B1098 in Cambridgeshire was the most bashed bridge in 2021/22 after being struck 33 times. The second most struck bridge, the Lower Down’s Road bridge in Wimbledon, was struck 18 times.
Bridge strikes reported across the railway network in the last five financial years are as follows:-
Year 2017/18 – 2,039 strikes
Year 2018/19 – 1,926 strikes
Year 2019/20 – 1,720 strikes
Year 2020/21 – 1,624 strikes
Year 2021/22 – 1,833 strikes
Full details, including a list of the top 10 most struck railway bridges in 2021/22, can be seen here.
Source: Network Rail
Q56) What is the Blue Badge Scheme?
A56) The Blue Badge scheme is designed to help people with disabilities or health conditions park closer to their destination. The eligibility criteria and the information that you need to apply for a Blue Badge can be viewed here.
Eligibilty for a badge was extended to people who cannot walk as part of a journey without considerable psychological distress or the risk of serious harm in August 2019.
The way in which a Blue Badge can be used differs in England, Scotland and Wales. Full details can be viewed here.
You can apply for, or re-new, a Blue Badge here.
Q57) How many Blue Badges are on issue in England?
A57) There were 2.44 million valid Blue Badges on issue at 31 March 2022, an increase of 3.6 per cent (84,000 badges) when compared with the previous year. This is similar to levels seen in March 2020. Of the badges held, 2.6 per cent of all badges (64,000) were held by people with non-visible disabilities. This was an increase from 1.7 per cent (39,000) in the year ending 31 March 2021.
On 31 March 2022 4.3 per cent of the population in England held a valid Blue Badge, up slightly from 4.2 per cent the previous year
Source: Disability, accessibility and Blue Badge statistics: 2021 to 2022
Q58) How many Blue Badges were lost or stolen in England in the year ending 31 March 2022?
A58) In the year ending March 2022, 6,183 badges were reported to be lost or stolen. Of these, 76 per cent were reported to be lost and 24 per cent were stolen.
Source: Disability, accessibility and Blue Badge statistics: 2021 to 2022